Here in Ohio, fair season is in full swing. I used to be an enthusiastic competitor in needlework and crafts at both the county and state fair levels. So, when I saw an article titled "Winning Tips for Fair Exhibitors" in the July 1953 issue of The Workbasket, I just had to take look.

Some of those tips are as sound today as they were 55 years ago. For instance: "White crochet, tatting and cutwork: Place colored cardboard under the needlework to show the design better." I always went one better and pinned fine crocheting and tatting to cardboard or foam board covered in midnight blue or maroon velvet, but the concept is the same. (For smaller pieces of cutwork, like a doily, this works well, too. Sometimes I framed cutwork, and I was always careful to back the piece with a suitable fabric in a complementary color.)

There's a photo caption I totally disagree with: "After the needlework is ironed for entry in a fair, wrap it in cellophane. This not only adds to the charm and beauty of the work, but saves much laundering if you exhibit at six or eight fairs in a season." Of course, now we'd use plastic wrap; but in either case, I always think this looks really tacky in an exhibit. Chances are a good judge would remove the plastic to get a closer look at the stitches and even the underside of the work, so there's always a chance the plastic won't be re-wrapped quite right. Light reflected off the plastic's surface also inhibits fairgoers being able to see your work. This is especially frustrating if the wrapped piece is a prizewinner.

In most cases, the worst that's going to happen is a little dust getting on the needlework. If you're a serious competitor, washing and ironing handwork between fairs is no big deal. (Six to eight fairs in a season? Wow, I thought I was a fanatic in my heyday. I think the most competitions I entered in a summer were four: the county fair, the state fair, and a couple of local community needlework competitions. You'd have to do some traveling to hit six to eight fairs.)

I had to chuckle at the advice given in the final paragraph of the article: "In all departments, look over your competition before you make your entries and list where you have the best chance of winning. If you take embroidered pillow slips with crocheted edges and somebody brings in better looking pillow slips, study your competition under 'Best Embroidery' and 'Best Crochet Edgings' and enter them where they have the best chance or least competition. It pays to spend a day at the exhibit hall, studying each entry as it comes in, and listing your own things as late as possible. This one secret is where the blue ribbons lie. The pillow slip in the illustration [i.e., the photo that accompanied the article: the detail of a pillowcase with flowered embroidery and a filet crochet lace edging] has been entered under 'Best Pillow Slips,' 'Best Embroidery' and 'Best Crochet' depending on where the least competition was at the time."

My experience at the "exhibit hall" has been that it's chaotic enough without exhibitors hanging around scoping out the competition as entries are brought in. Also, categories vary so wildly from premium list to premium list that a competitor could drive him- or herself mad. My strategy was to study prizewinners in general, getting an understanding of what standards judges set and what they reward in terms of design, skill, and presentation. However, I did keep an eye on which categories got the most entries and the skill level of those entries. I racked up a lot of ribbons simply by entering the huck towel embroidery categories at our county fair. Twenty years ago people (in my county, anyway) weren't doing much huck towel embroidery. This even worked at the state fair level. (On the other hand, there were so many entries in the counted cross-stitch categories that I often didn't bother.)

Things have changed a lot over the years. In some counties (like mine) the county fair is on the verge of extinction, which is sad. If you have a local fair, definitely enter your needlework. It's fun, you get a swell ego boost from winning a ribbon (any ribbon), and it will help keep the county fair tradition alive.

Fair season may be waning in some areas, or it may be too late to get an entry or two together for this year's fair. Plan now to enter next year--and spend any remaining opportunities this year studying that competition!

--Nancy